In Focus

IN FOCUS Film and Photography Magazine

Passion of Filmmaking

Looking into the film industry and the people in it (pg 34)

This Post Worthy?

Ten Movies Shot in Austin! (pg 32)

Is

The visual arts are dominating social media - and fast.

A Revolution in Beauty

A look on body-positive photography

Which type of photographer are you? (pg 30)

8 Tips for Mobile Photography (pg 22)

Knoxy

A profile on local food photographer Courtney Knox (pg 6)

More Than Just Film

How youth around Austin are learning more than just

3 4

Letter From the Editor

Meet the Creators More than Just Film

8 12 Ten Films Shot in Austin 14 Knoxy How does your Camera Work?

18 26 Photogenic Places in Austin What Kind of Photographer 28 are You? 34 The Passion of Filmmaking Is this Postworthy?

30 38 8 Tips for Mobile Photography 20 A Revolution in Beauty

In Focus | Page 2

Letter From The Editor P utting this magazine together has been a difficult yet rewarding experience. Our group has learned a lot about magazine design, news writing, and how programs like indesign work. We all have really had a bonding time over making this amazing magazine.

Thanks to Aiden for always helping out when photoshop, indesign, and adobe illustrator were involved.

We wouldn’t have been able to do some of the cool designs we did without you. Thanks to Nabeeha for taking great photos. You helped make our cover page as amazing as it is, and of course you had amazing interviews. Great work on the logo too! Thanks to Micah for bringing laughter to the group and keeping us all in high spirits even if you weren’t having such a great day yourself. Great work on your feature story and ASF too. Thanks to Molly for always helping others out in general with your own time. Whether it’s editing our feature stories, helping on ASFs, or making cool whichgroup-member-are-you quizzes along with Micah. And of course thanks to Ms.Touchstone for helping us with everything along the way.

Throughout our time this semester we have really learned a lot about working in a group, working with technology, and how a magazine is put together. I am sure that none of us expected that designing a magazine page would be as hard as writing the actual story!

I hope that you have an amazing time reading this magazine. We have put a lot of hard work into this, so I hope you enjoy it!

Letter From The Editor | Page 3

Meet the Authors!

Micah Heilbron is a matzo ball soup lover, someone who

thoroughly enjoys both memes and venting to her ezine group, and loves loves loves dogs!!! She is a stressed freshmen at LASA, and even when things get overwhelming, and she wonders how she even got in, Micah is very grateful to be at this school, and can’t imagine being anywhere else. You can always see Micah in Touchstone FIT, posting on her spam account, and/or doing homework because, again, she is a LASA student. Micah has had an amazing time in Ezine and feels she has gotten very close with her group and learned a lot. Micah sends a special thanks to everyone who everyone who has (somehow) put up with her throughout the semester, her synagogue, her friends, and her family for supporting her through the wild ride that is teenagehood.

Nabeeha Ghani is a freshman at LASA High School in

Austin, Texas where she has lived all of her life. Ghani can be described as an artist, a comedian, and a very friendly person all around. She takes a great interest in all forms of art. She enjoys photography, music in all forms, singing, art itself, playing trumpet with the school band, and anything else that involves self-expression. Ghani is an extrovert who loves to have fun at all times, which is why she spends time with a variety of people. She is widely known for her crippling procrastination by her family, friends, and classmates, but she always has a marvelous finished product. She loves to surround herself with good comapany and her friends are a big part of who she is today and who she will be in the future. Nabeeha is open-minded and easy to talk to, and she really loves every single member in her ezine group. She hopes that you enjoy the magazine that the whole group has worked so hard on.

The Creators | Page 4

Gabriel Brown is a freshman at the Liberal Arts and Sci-

ence Academy in Austin Texas. He is from Austin, Texas, but spent seventh and eighth grade living in Guatemala. He went to a small middle school there where his entire grade was less than 25 people. He has a twin named Alex and they are great friends. His favorite thing to do is play Dungeons and Dragons, especially AD&D and 5th edition. He even has his own medieval weaponry collection! He is also in the robotics team and is president/dictator for life/emperor of bad film club. He hopes to pursue a career in either robotics, teaching (both his parents were teachers), or as a full time Dungeons and Dragons player. When he retires he hopes to have at least 5 cats. Don’t judge. He also hopes to someday obtain a thousand sided die.

Molly Broughton is another freshman at LASA, she was

born in Austin and has lived there for all of her life. You will find that she is very sarcastic, but does take other people into consideration as people have called her “nice” in the past. Broughton enjoys writing of all kinds and drawing. She is currently juggling writing five screenplays because she likes writing all sorts of things at once. In the future, she plans on producing her work as she loves film, acting, and writing. As well as writing, she acts and has played a number of interesting roles such as a killer robot, a surfer dude, and a Lost Boy. As she continues to write and experiment with roles, she has found that she has a passion for film and theater.

When she isn’t being productive, you can find Broughton hanging out with friends, watching Netflix, or playing with her adorable cat Nutmeg who she has devoted a lot of time to.

Aiden Tindall is a freshman at LASA as well. He was born in Houston but moved to Austin when he was 2 so he’s pretty much an Austinite at this point. He enjoys playing Pokemon, eating pocky, and listening to instrumental and non-English music. His favorite subjects are Math and Computer Science, and he hopes to major in one or both of them one day at MIT. After that, he wants to become a game designer and possibly work in a company like Nintendo working on the games of the series that he grew up with. Currently, he is in Japanese II and wants to eventually do Japan Bowl, which is a competition of knowing the language and culture. He’s generally the tech expert of the group, and attempts to solve the group’s problems when indesign is misbehaving (which is quite often) and when there’s never a download button on the images that they need for their stories. Also shift key is magic key.

In Focus | Page 5

art.

Art | Page 6

A series of photos

by Nabeeha Ghani.

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Six FIlm Kids members starting a film shoot. They learn how to use all kinds of technology including green screens.

More Than Just Film How Brian Cox brought filming to kids all throughout Austin.

By Gabriel Brown

he first two things he felt were confusion and T fear.

His first film on his own was “a horrible piece of art that never got finished.” When he started an after school club his first year only two students signed up. He knew that he was at the vanguard of youth filmmaking, but he could not find the right group to teach. After years of teaching high school and then middle school, he still felt like there could be something better. Finally he found the right group: Elementary schoolers.

Brian Cox, a film enthusiast, founded the afterschool club Film Kids on September 1st, 2011. Today it has partnered with 11 elementary schools in Austin to teach kids how to make more than just a good movie.

The Thanksgiving in 2010, Cox decided to make a film with his two young children, Eli and Olivia. He was as-

More Than Just Film | Page 8

tonished by how much fun he had working with them.

Cox realized that, “elementary school students really had a knack for it. That their stories were fun, and that it was fun to work with them and that they could develop a film sense. You know the language of visual storytelling that goes along with film.”

Cox was ecstatic when Brentwood Elementary let him have his club there. He had plenty of experience teaching in the classroom, and one of his favorite things was seeing people learn filming for the first time.

“It’s exciting to make movies with people when it’s their first times you know when they’re learning and I’m learning along with them,” said Cox

Cox decided to make an afterschool club for elementary schoolers called Film Kids. He had never worked with elementary school kids before, so the start was confusing and unlike anything he previously experienced.

The first few weeks were a little chaotic. Cox said that the two feelings he remembers a lot were just confusion and fear.

One of the biggest challenges was the business part.

He needed to make sure that he got enough students on board to keep the program running. Cox had to get enough money not only for his salary, but also for the equipment to start Film Kids.

“It was the club members reaction that made me feel better, made me realize I was doing the right thing”- Cox Cox knew how to film and how to teach but he said “the whole business side of it of like hoping I could make enough money to keep the business going, that was just that was the scariest thing of all, was like oh man I hope this works.”

One thing that Cox relied a lot on in the beginning was just what other people told him about the club. Other people’s positive feedback was what kept him running.

“It was the the club members reaction that made me feel better, made me realize I was doing the right thing,” said Cox. Kids all over Austin started joining Film Kids. When Cox’s son Eli reached 5th grade he joined too. Eli Cox is now the Film Kids assistant editor and he films as a hobby with some friends. One of Eli’s favorite things about filming is how you can really get into your role.

Film Kids was expanding so much that there were too many kids for just one instructor, so Cox needed to find another instructor. He found Cameron Primm, a young editor looking to make his mark in the filming world.

Primm had worked with children before, but this was his first time actually teaching them.

“It was just a learning experience just managing the different kids personalities and make everyone clam and work together,” said Primm.

Every kid brings their own ideas to the films and has their own ideas. Not only that, but kids have their own special needs and challenges.

“A lot of the challenges I face are you know that kind of stuff helping kids work together and stay on task and what not,” said Primm.

One of the most important things Cox and Primm have learned is that it’s important to plan differently according to each child.

“Kids have very different like emotional needs so you kind of have to be present and allow themselves in their own individual way,” said Primm.

“I like filming so much because you kind of, immerse yourself in the aspect of the film and when you’re acting it’s fun because you kind of take on that character and get to be somebody else,” said Eli.

In Focus | Page 9

Elementary schoolers shooting a film in FIlm Kids.

“It was just a learning experience just managing the different kids personalities and make everyone clam and work together” - Primm

More Than Just Film | Page 10

One bonus of working with elementary schoolers is that they are unbelievably creative. Kids come up with films that no adult would ever think of with titles like “The Mac and Cheese Show,” “Plant Man,” and “Vacuums of America”.

Both in Film Kids and when filming on his own Eli said he and other filmers “had a lot of creative differences.”Kids are extremely creative, especially in terms of art.”

They often have so many ideas that they can not chose one specific idea, and being able to talk about their ideas in a professional way is something that Film Kids teaches them along with being able to make Films.

Brian Cox, Creator of Film Kids

“Working as a team is the priority”- Primm Kids are extremely creative, especially in terms of art.

They often have so many ideas that they can not chose one specific idea, and being able to talk about their ideas in a professional way is something that Film Kids teaches them along with being able to make Films.

Cox said he wants club members to become “technically able to make movies and run cameras but also able to speak about our ideas and have a lot of life skills.”

Working together is a big goal in Film Kids, and Cox encourages all of his kids to become a functioning team.

Film Kids members need to be able to resolve their differences and work towards their goal.

“Establishing an environment where the collective is the goal” and “working as a team is the priority,” said Primm.

There are many things that Cox loves about Film Kids, but cooperation is his favorite. Kids generally have some experience with teamwork, but Cox tries to reinforce their teamwork throughout the semester. The better they can work together, the more fun they have.

semester gets going of people working together and we all know how we operate and we all and we can goof around but like still get the work done.”

There are many things that Cox teaches kids in Film Kids. Cooperation, life skills, creativity, acting, and the technical aspects of filming. But best of all people become friends in Film Kids. Not every movie turns out good, but people learn things and make friends in every movie, even if it turns out poorly.

“Not every movie we make is like a home run. Ya know. and some sometimes it’s because the group doesn’t really gel or the idea doesn’t come the way we hoped. But the ones that are really good the films that are really good that’s part of it is the way the group was working during the production and then and them making suggestions and and stuff. The biggest success of Film Kids I think is those people that have the relationships that people have developed with each other working together they’re still friends they still see each other and remember those times” To learn more about Brian Cox and FIlm Kids, go to Film Kid’s website at www.filmkids.org, or see their movies at www.vimeo.com/austinfilmkids.

Cox said one of his favorite things was how “after a

In Focus | Page 11

10 Films You might not have known were shot in Austin!

Ten popular movies that you might not have known were shot right here in Austin Texas! This list ranges in genres, so you might find something you might not have seen to watch!

Kill Bill

A vengeful assassin and ex-bride devises a hit list to kill everyone involved with her wedding after coming out of a coma caused by her murderous husband, Bill.

Spy Kids

A movie about the kids of two ex-spies. When other agents go missing, the kids find out about their parents past and embark on a journey of their own.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

A classic horror movie about a chainsaw wielding serial killer and his spree of murders.

Sin City

A collection of dark tales from the criminal world following people from all sorts of criminal backgrounds plus a cop.

!0 Films You Might Not Know Were Shot In Austin | Page 12

Dazed and Confused

The last day of school brings a group of rowdy teenagers together in this coming of age story.

Idiocracy

A dystopian future about a lack of natural selection, leaving the people to their own devices, those devices in which they destroy.

Boyhood

A movie that follows a boy’s childhood with his mother and sister. The story follows the twists and turns through his life.

Shorts

A collection of short films that come together to show a larger storyline about a wishing rock.

Grindhouse

A double feature of the horrific and gory creations famed directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez have to offer.

Miss Congeniality

When someone threatens to bomb the Miss USA pageant, one tomboyish FBI agent has to go undercover as a contestent to save the pageant.

In Focus | Page 13

Pic tur eb yA i de

Knoxy | Page 14

en Tin d

all

Knoxy By: Aiden Tindall

“I

Profile on local food and advertisement photographer, Courtney Knox

was just starting photography, like trying to run it as a business, didn’t know what I was doing- I had five jobs at the time, y’know like just a bunch of part time things, and selling plasma for twenty dollars, which if you ever become and artist you’ll probably have to do,” said Courtney Knox.

Currently working locally in Austin in a building called The Preacher, a building for artists filled with stained glass and modern technology in downtown Austin, Courtney Knox, who goes by Knoxy, captures the natural beauty in every day objects through her love of being a photographer and her passion for working while she develops both her professional and personal styles.

“After college, I was kinda trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I was a liberal arts major so there was not a ton of guidance, so I didn’t really know exactly what I wanted to do. I just kinda started trying on different hats of different careers,” said Knox.

Knox attended the University of Texas and graduated with majors in English and Spanish. After college, she held five jobs while trying to figure out her career; working as a barista, donating plasma for $20, and working at the Zachary Scott theater to name a few. After her job at the theater was over, she was out of work as a freelancer, but the next day she received a life changing call.

“When my job at the theater ended, I was like, ‘Oh my god, what am I gonna do?’ The very next day I got a phone call from my friend’s fam-

ily and they’re like, ‘You’re always taking pictures, will you come take some photos for us? We’ll pay you. And that’s when the lightbulb went off that I could monetize my hobby. I never thought I could actually make money doing this. It’s interesting,” said Knox.

“And that’s when the lightbulb went off that I could monetize my hobby”

From there, Knox started her career as a photographer in Austin. With some help from a friend, she was able to start her own business by taking any job offer she could, and her friend encouraged her to try and find the type of photography she was good at and could specialize in. Unfortunately, figuring out that specialty proved to be not as easy as it sounded.

For some time, Knox had not been able to find the photography that she enjoys and wanted to specialize in to make a career out of it. She tried wedding, but found it “brutal” due to the neurotic notions of people. So, she kept on taking jobs until she received a call from the owner of the former restaurant, the Woodland.

“They needed some food photos taken, and like,‘Hey, you’re always taking pictures, do you wanna take photos for us?’ And, I was like, ‘Yeah, sure, whatever, just feed me.’ So, I went in, and that was my first time shooting food. We shot like ice cream sandwiches and coffee drinks that they had, and I had so much fun doing that because the food just sits there, and it’s pretty, and it’s not neurotic like people,” said Knox.

After finally figuring out her specialty, Knox began to photograph food as a professional. She started by working in advertising, and currently works in downtown

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Austin in a building called The Preacher where she develops her personal style while also making a business out of photographing for advertisements.

“When you’re doing commercial photography which is what I do, it’s completely separate from your personal art. It’s like, you kinda have to put your ego aside and listen to what the client wants,” said Knox.

Knox has a tendency to prioritize her customers and develop a friendly customer-client relationship with them.

Knox’s agent and occasional hand model, Gayle Gilner, said that, “She’ll turn clients into friends all the time and that’s a really special skill to have and not something everyone can do, and she’s always networking, she’s always got one eye open even when she’s out just for pleasure with her friends, she’s always got that one eye on is there a job here for me. Is there anything that- any photography needs, and I think that’s a really important part to being successful is kind of always keeping your eyes open.”

Knox has a certain way in which she cares for her clients, leading to her success in being the photographer that she is. Happier clients lead to

Knoxy | Page 16

“If there’s anything I can do to make them more happy, I’ll do it” ~Knox

more references, better business, and more friends in a comfortable work environment in the studio.

“I always underpromise and overdeliver with my clients, and I take really good care of them from start to finish. They always walk away feeling super cared about, and if there’s anything I can do to make them more happy, I’ll do it,” said Knox.

Knox’s way she handles clients is different from how a traditional business handles them. After forming a contract with one to take say, five pictures to give to a client, she’ll occasionally throw in a few more even if it wasn’t required of her contract in the first place.

“When I started out, I was like, ‘These are terrible pictures, I don’t think anyone’s gonna give me money for this’, but that’s just kind of my nature though is to be highly critical and I think that’s what makes me an effective photographer, is that I’m so detail oriented, and like especially when doing the styling and all that which I have a huge part in and I did exclusively forever until I finally got budgets, it’s like moving something from here to here changes the whole photo,” said Knox.

Pictures Taken by Courtney Knox

Starting out, Knox was inexperienced and she had not developed her style. She also had not taken any courses in photography to let her to develop a style that is untainted by anything or anyone else, and grow as a photographer because of it.

According to Gilner, they can now be seen as more naturalistic, as if they weren’t touched in the first place.

“I’m always like a little unsatisfied. I go through this weird, progression of the work while I’m shooting, I think it’s so awesome when I’m in it and I’m like these are perfect these, are amazing. And then as soon as, I’m like reviewing them on my computer, I’m like, ‘These are terrible, what is wrong with me! What a waste,’ and then when I give them to the client and get their positive feedback, I’m like oh ok I guess it’s not trash,” said Knox.

Knox has always been highly critical of herself. Being highly critical of herself drives her to always improve, and the quality of her work constantly.

As Gilner says, “I can always tell it’s a Knoxy photograph because she photographs from a

very specific angle. She takes these shots that are curated in a really nice way. I can tell that Knoxy’s had her hand on it because everything’s perfect in the shot. It’s placed exactly where it’s supposed to without looking like it’s trying too hard. I think that one of the great things about her photography is that it’s perfect, but it just looks like it naturally happened that way, and it’s a hard thing to not make it look like it’s trying too hard or you put too much work into it.” l

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How Your Camera Works

By Gabriel Brown

Bob was here

4. The rotating mirror is a special part of a mirror used for high speed photography in specialized cameras. High speed photography is taking photos of things moving at very high speed without blurring the photo and getting a clear, sharp image. These photos need to happen within a matter of milliseconds, so if you want to photograph a bubble in mid-pop, you’re going to need a rotating mirror.

5. The eyepiece is where you look through to see what you are about to take an image of. Without an eyepiece it would be very very hard to see what you were about to take a picture of.

Cameras are something we use everyday, but most people don’t know how they actually work. All the details of how a camera works is super long, so just for the sake of saving time this is going teach you both how the picture is recorded into the memory of your digital camera and how you are able to see what you are about to photograph before you photograph it.

1. Lenses don’t just have one lens, they actually have around 10 different parts. These parts prevent things like blurring, reduced contrast, changes in brightness, or chromatic aberration. Higher quality lenses have less of these problems, while worse ones can have any amount of problems.

How Your Camera Works | Page 18

2. The pentaprism allows photographers like you to be able to actually see what you are taking a picture of! It does this by reflecting the image so that you can look exactly at what you are going to take a picture of. It is now used mostly by SLR photographers because DSLR cameras use penta mirrors.

6. The shutter determines how long the digital sensor is exposed to light.

This amount of time varies and can be changed by the photographer, usually between 1/1000 th of a second and 1 second. The amount of light that reaches the digital camera effects things like how motion looks in the photo or how light or dark the photo is.

3. The focusing screen focuses a picture before the light goes into the pentaprism so that you can see a clearer image of what you are photographing. The most common one of these is the 35 mm in SLR cameras, however there are different ones of these for different photographers, such as low and high light situations.

7. The digital sensor captures the light that comes into the camera and transforms it into a digital image. It detects how much light arrives on each part of the sensor and then turns that into pixels and a digital image. Every digital camera has one of these and it is necessary for all digital cameras.

#2

#3 #5

#7

#6 #1 #4

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Photogeneic Locations in Austin Pictures and Article by: Aiden Tindall

W

hile Austin is infamous for being the live music capital of the world, most people don’t realize the numerous amounts of places that are perfect for taking pictures that show the local culture of the Austin area. A big part of our culture is a focus on expressing one’s self, as well as the blend of nature and architecture. The result of this culture has made for some photogenic locations that many tourists stop by and take pictures on their travels around Austin. Just try not to stick around too long, or you’ll become an Austinite yourself!

Photogenic Locations in Austin | Page 20

Castle Hill

Castle Hill (bottom left), located between 9th and 10th Baylor Street, is an ever changing graffiti park that was formed as due to the failing of a construction project that would’ve brought more houses into Austin in the 1980’s. In an effort to “Keep Austin Weird,” the owners of the lot allowed for people to paint on the slates of the walls, what others would have considered trespassing. Due to the ever changing artwork on the walls and unique sense of Austin culture, you’re able to take pictures here that other’s will not be able to take within the coming week, adding a sense of uniqueness to any picture.

Murals

Some of the most famous attractions in Austin are the murals (bottom right). People come from all around to take pictures in front of them, and there’s almost always somebody who is standing infront of one of them. The most famous mural would have to be the “I love you so much” mural, which has become a major icon in Austin. Other infamous murals include the “Hi, how are you frog” and the “Welcome to Austin” murals. Each one has been here for years and each has its own unique story attached to it, plus their size and location makes it perfect for taking pictures in front of!

Bridges

The last attractions to visit in Austin are the numerous bridges located here (top right). While looking over Lake Travis, you can see Austinites rowing down below surrounded by nature paths with a view of the city in the horizen. If you happen to go to the Congress Avenue Bridge, what

locals refer to as the Bat Bridge, during sunet, you can see the swarms of bats that roost directly unde the bridge. If you’re not a night person, you can always walk along the paths located right under the bridge and listen to the sounds of the thousands of bats that live there. If bats are not your

thing, you can always visit the Train Bridge and behold the grafiti on the old bridge while watching rowers pass by underneeth.

No matter which bridge you decide to visit, however, they both make for a spectacularly photogenic shot. l

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What Type of Photographer are you?

What are you doing on a normal Saturday night?

On the town

Date night!

Sleeping

Crying

By Micah Heilbron

Start

What’s your dream vacation?

What’s your favorite pastime?

Shopping

Hiking Hangin’ with friends

Sports

Do you have snapchat?

What Type of Photographer are You? | Page 22

London New York

What type of personality do you have?

Extrovert baby!

Are you currently a student?

Yes No

Paris

No Yes #schoolflow

I’m an introvert

Wedding Photographer wedding

heck yes

Do you wear makeup?

All natural!

You’re a wedding photographer! You’re probably a romantic, and you love to have fun.

Landscape Photographer landscape

Do you like working in groups or alone?

If you’re a landscape photographer, you most likely like being alone, live quiet and peace, and of course nature!

Fashion Photographer fashion

Ha no.

The more the merrier!

High Fashion! You’re super chic and trendy! You probably work well under stress, too.

Do you prefer blogs or social media accounts for photography?

Blogs all the way

Food Photographer food

Living that Insta & Snap

Yum!! You’re delicious, and love food (obvi) and adventure!

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f o n o i s s a P e Th

g n i k a m

Film hton

y Broug by: Moll

“E

An inside look into the film industry and the passion behind it.

veryone loves film. You do not have to be involved to be moved by a film,” says Taylor McCausland, a UT graduate who has worked on Project Runway, as well as moderates Q&As about different films.

It doesn’t take long to see that film is a big part of Western culture. It has become obvious how much people love going to the movies based on the fact that

about 83% of teenagers have been to the movies at least once this year. However, this story is not about the people who watch the films, but about the people who love film so much that they went into the industry and are making the films people watch nowadays.

“Making films is a lot of coordination, a lot of logistical planning, there’s a lot of coordinating with your subjects. If you’re on set it’s

A photo of Glen Moorman, an assitant director just doing his job.

The Passion of Filmmaking 24

usually a long day- about twelve hours,” says Shelby Hadden, a short film and documentary director. She is a graduate from the University of Texas, and has been working on films since she was in fourth grade.

Film is a complex, yet well oiled machine filled with numerous people working in different departments to create a product that could potentially be viewed

Shelby Hadden, a director of short films and documentaries.

Photo Credit: Shelby Hadden

by millions. There are all sorts of jobs in front of and behind the camera, and a system that allows for people to move up the ranks of the business. It is an industry that many say that anyone with a passion for film can get into.

One person who had that passion is Shelby Hadden. Her documentaries have a wide range of subjects from Mitochondrial disease to a more recent documentary about a beauty pageant.

She has won around 30 awards for these films, and goes to film festivals nearly every year for her work.

“I mean, the awards are great.

30 film festivals across this many films seem like a lot, but if you could see how many festivals I apply to versus how many I get into, I get rejected from about two thirds of the festivals I apply to. It’s just really really hard because there are a lot of factors into getting into it, and that’s not really what it’s about.” says Hadden.

Hadden’s work is not something that she quantifies by how many awards she has won, but by the experiences she has. Since Hadden makes a lot of documentaries, she gets to meet

Taylor McCausland, a model with a personality.

Photo Credit: Jai Mayhew

a lot of new people she might not have gotten to know had she not been making these films. Due to her large range of films, this makes it easier to get to know different people from different backgrounds.

“My favorite part of it is meeting people and getting to know them really well and getting to know them in a way that most people don’t.”

Hadden says.

The films that Hadden make take a lot of commitment. She spends hours of her time contacting sources, running numbers, interviewing people, and taking shots of takes for her films.

Being a director takes a lot of dedication, but it is clear that if one has the dedication to make something out of a dream, anyone can.

Some people have that same dream, but sometimes they will take a different standpoint in the creative side of filmmaking. Take Tom Willett for example, he is a screenwriter who writes comedy, drama, and dramedies.

He writes what is produced, what the directors have to work with. He wrote the

A short film that Tom Willett wrote the screenplay of.

script to “Dreamland”, a short film that was submitted to the Sundance Film festival. Though it might not have been his favorite, he did get to see it be produced and his characters and story come alive before him on film.

Tom Willett, a screenwriter and professor at UT. Photo Credit: Tom WIllett

In focus 25

“Some of my favorite scripts that I’ve written probably aren’t the ones that got produced.” Willett says.

Not all of people’s work sees the light of the silver screen, but that does not stop them from writing. Since screenplays are not always produced, there are other ways that screenwriters motivate themselves to keep writing.

“One is knowing people you know will read it, so knowing someone is looking forward to reading it can motivate you.” says Willett.

Willett isn’t only a screenwriter, he is a professor at UT who gives frequent and is teaching younger kids how to screenwrite, passing some of his own tips down to them. He teaches them the basics of screenwriting, the genres, and how to build up characters.

At the moment he is not only the person building the foundation for directors and other members of the crew to achieve their goals, but he is also helping people to see their potential.

Not all TV shows have scripts, Reality TV shows don’t have scripts, and 9.2 million people watch them. What they do have are the stars on the screen causing all of the drama for the viewer’s enjoyment.

Taylor McCausland worked on the reality show, “Project Runway”. Though she was not getting into catfights, she was in the spotlight as a model. Being a model was not easy, but it did have its perks.

“I don’t like how I look on Project runway.. But that’s okay.

Because they wanted smiley, but my designer wanted mean. And all of the online comments are like, ‘Who is this terrible model why is she so angry?’” McCausland says.

The Passion of Filmmaking 26

Though these comments were hurtful, they were not her only focus. McCausland was not just a model, she also studied film at the University of Texas, and looks were not the only thing that mattered to her on Project Runway.

She was watching the designers, taking mental notes about the process of reality TV.

“But it was really really exciting and it’s nice to see how real the designers actually are, that was one thing that was really real about the show, they were very kind and

determined and the blood sweat and tears are actually real. So that’s nice, it’s just the runway- you see a seamless runway, but you shoot it like 20 times and the judging, it looks like it’s only two minutes but it’s actually two hours standing in your heels feeling like you’re about to pass out. And it’s hot and sweaty and everyone has to be adjusted. It was really interesting, a really wonderful experience.”

Now, modeling is not McCausland’s main focus, though there were positives to the job, it also had negative qualities.

“It’s not my personality. I was asked not to have personality, I was asked not to have opinions, education, I was asked to pretend I don’t speak English. That was the big thing that turned me off. So going into film and being able to be me again was the best part.” says McCausland

Some photoshoots have nice, scenic backgrounds.

Every model and photographer starts somewhere.

Photo Credit: Molly Broughton

For awhile, she went into editing. However, she found that this was not the career path for her. After about a year of editing short films and documentaries, McCausland went into working on film festivals. This suited her more and she was happier here than in editing.

“I figured out that I want to be the bridge, being behind the camera is too not talking to people. Being in front of the camera is maybe too much a about me. So I really want to be the bridge between the two worlds, the film world and the people who want to access it but cannot.”

McCausland says.

Right now McCausland is in Japan, teaching young children but she is coming back soon and when she does she plans on moderating Q&As in film festivals later this year, after she returns to America.

While Taylor McCausland was a main face you would see on the TV screen, Glen Moorman was working in the background. He is making sure that everything is working perfectly behind the scenes as well as in front of the camera.

“If you do background rightnobody ever notices, and if you do it badly, it looks terrible and everybody is like, ‘Ew what is wrong with that extra? What is that?’”

Working on the background is not his only job, though it is something that can make or break a movie’s look. Moorman’s job can work as sort of a backbone for some of the movie’s structure and scheduling.

“So we’re responsible for making a schedule, and then on the day, my job is to make sure that we shoot all of these shots on this day, within the usually the usual a filming

day is 12 hours. If we go over that, then it means overtime for everyone and it costs more money, so the goal of making a good schedule is to schedule what you are actually able to shoot in a day,.” sSays Moorman as he describes part of his job as an assistant director

All of this sounds like a lot of work and scheduling, but there is more to it. Other parts of his job include doing what is called, a lockup. A lockup is where an assistant director, or production assistant will monitor a set to make sure that no one interrupts the shot.

“So when I was on the show ‘The Good Guys’, we used to do stunts for every week’s episodes.

One of the things that you do is a lockup. First of all, when you’re on a lockup, you’re never supposed to look at what is happening on camera. So the first explosion we did, we blew up a car, and I was the closest to it, and then afterwards, my PAs came up to me and were like, ‘How was it?’ And I go, ‘I don’t know, I’m not watching the explosion, I’m making sure that everyone is safe,” Moorman says.

Just because someone is not the main face or the star of a TV series does not mean they should be overlooked.

Film makers who decided not to go to film school like Glen Moorman are just as important and have just as much fun as the people in front of the camera, and have the same passion as the other members of the crew.

The film industry is a very competitive industry, but that does not stop everyone. There is a place for everyone who has the dedication and the passion for film.

As proven by all of these accounts, anyone could be happy and find their niche filmmaking.

Moorman says, “I think when you’re aware of what goes into what goes into a film, the magic is just heightened. Because the fact that all of these parts can come together to make this immersive, super effective experience.”

A picture of a schedule that Moorman wrote for the short film Homestate that premiered at the Austin Film Festival.

Photo Credit: Molly Broughton

In focus 27

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Is This Postworthy? | 28

The lighting is brilliant!”“The colors are so beautiful!”“This is a great picture, keep on inspiring.”

These supportive comments are common in the visual arts community on all social media platforms including Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, and others. Young photographers and filmmakers are quickly dominating the social media world. From the looks of it, it does not seem like anyone is complaining. These so-called “artsy,” “artistic,” and “aesthetic” pictures are spreading the art of the camera through an outlet almost everyone has: social media.

All over the world, 30-75% of people--from teenagers to middleaged adults--are rapidly integrating into all social media platforms. These are the photographers and filmmakers who are putting their work out into the world by posting, uploading, and publishing it on all forms of social media. It is only 2016, and this camera culture is already widespread through Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Tumblr, VSCO, and several other online platforms.

These people love what they do and want everyone to see what they can do with simply an imagination, a mission, and a camera.

Emily Lawson, a junior at Bowie High School in Austin, Texas, has a relatively large audience for her age on her online profiles. Her YouTube subscriber count is 3,000 and her Instagram follower count is 2,000. She uses Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter very often to share her photos and videos and connect with people. She also uses Facebook once in awhile. Lawson believes social media has definitely affected her in several ways, and she has achieved many milestones through her online statuses.

“Social media has opened up my perspective. I think people are very supportive! Art is so complicated to convey, although it seems simple and anyone can do it. The majority of people speak highly of photographers. I think everybody likes looking at images because photography is so diverse, and I think everyone supports photography because it’s so necessary.

O R T H Y ?

The visual artists are

dominating -and fast.

I’m lucky [my followers] tell me really positive notes

“I think putting your work out is a great way to connect with likeminded,” says Syed.

Sameer

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about how they liked a certain shot or the way I artistically structure my videos, things like that. I don’t get “hate” often which is really great,” says Lawson.

Lawson is not the only teenager who feels like this. People who are involved in the film and photography communities online are surrounded by compliments and constructive criticism. If anyone were to scroll through the comments

on a photographer’s Instagram, they would see how kind their followers are.

Sometimes these compli ments even start online friendships.

“I meet a lot of internet friends through similar music tastes, political views, positive outlooks, and passions about art. I meet most of them [in person] and a majority [of them] live in Texas because we go to the same concerts in the area, and some are from Arizona,” says Lawson.

People are frequently making connections with other people through social media. Whether it’s across the city, across the country, or across the world, people are meeting different In Focus | 29

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and faraway people with whom they share opinions, interests, goals, views and passions. This is very common in the realm of film and photography.

Professional photographer, Sabahat Anjum, lives in Germany with her husband and daughter. Syed is a wedding and lifestyle photographer. She has several personal experiences of how photography and social media have made an impact on her and how she has met other photographers like herself. She also believes that photography has an impact on most people, if not everyone.

“It’s safe to say that photography on social media has completely changed our way of self expression. We live in a very visual world and it affects young people, in fact, all people,” says Syed.

She has done several of her photoshoots in the woods or in natural places with lots of scenery, like in the woods, along rivers and lakes, in parks, etc.

“I mostly work

outdoors and have to travel for my shoots.

It’s very versatile and, at times, very challenging since location and lighting keep changing. It definitely stands in contrast to studio work,” says Syed.

For a university project, Syed teamed up with a couple of other photography students to set up a bedroom in the woods and take pictures. There is a video of this photoshoot on her Instagram, @sabah.syed.

“We set up an entire bedroom scene, including a bed, bedside table, lights, et cetera, in the middle of the woods with electricity and all. It was during winter, so the day was really short and cold. We had to be super fast. We did the set up, shooting, and wind up in just a few hours. It was very tiring but worth it. The pictures turned out really good and got a place in several local exhibitions,” says Syed.

This is an example of the kind of events that take place in the lives of photographers. It all goes to show how passion and determination on a project as a photographer can lead to results that could exceed the artist’s expectations

“The purpose of photography is to make you feel

Photo

s by Sabahat S yed of var iou s mo de ls

something, Photography is a form of graphic communication.

To me, the essential purpose of photography is communication.

Pictures are a photographer’s means of expression as a writer’s means are words,” Syed said.

Photographers and filmmakers can be found on the majority of social platforms. There are 100+ platforms where visual artists can put out their work.

The most popular social media apps that people, young and old, use are: Facebook with 1,590,000,000 users, Tumblr with 555,000,000 users, Instagram with 400,000,000 users, Twitter with 320,000,000 users, Pinterest with 100,000,000 users, and others. The biggest platforms for photographers and filmmakers are YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Tumblr.

VSCO, an app for editing and sharing photos, is the biggest app for photographers where only photography is posted and displayed.

Social media affects everyone, but people who are interested in the visual arts are inspired by every photo and video their role models post and upload. Whether it is the urge to recreate a photo seen online or the urge to take a picture of some stranger next to the cool tree behind the school, people with passion are what will keep social media thriving.

Perhaps social media is viewed as a waste of time by the older generations, but discovering and expanding one’s interests not only takes place in the real world nowadays, but it also happens online. Make this the generation that is not only inspired, but also inspiring.

As Emily Lawson said, “I think everyone who has an interest in something, no matter how big or how small, should just go for it. If you have a curiosity towards something it’s for a reason and I think you should just leap into that and see where it takes you.” l

In Focus | 31

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While editing a photo, use less filter. By all means, if there is a filter that goes with the photo perfectly, use it. In some cases, pictures lose the majority of their visual appeal if they are filtered with a terrible filter that isn’t compatible whatsoever. Instead, use more editing tools like: temperature, saturation, exposure, contrast, tint, skin tone, clarity, fade, etc. Also, you can change the intensity of the filter in almost every editing application. The picture to the left does not have a filter on it, but one of the biggest tools used was saturation.

This brought out the red and green tones of the photo. If the photographer had used a filter, the picture would not have looked nearly as good as it does now.

Take multiple shots! You will rarely ever get the best photo on the first try; it can’t be the best if you don’t take others for it to be better than. Take so many pictures of your desired view. it won’t hurt anybody! Make sure each one is the best quality possible. Take different angles, poses, lighting, etc. The thing is, the more the pictures you take, the more you have to choose from. That way, you have a larger variety that could produce a really good photo.

Make sure your lens is clean! You don’t want to take amazing pictures only to realize that they are blurry or smudged in some way. There have been several cases where people find the perfect opportunity to take a wonderful picture, and they quickly pull out their phone to snap a couple shots. Unfortunately, they discover later with disappointment that their picture is blurry because they did not wipe their lens with their shirt or any cloth beforehand..

Find colors that compliment each other. Photography is all about looks, and color is one of the prime principle of the visual arts. Find colors that either create complementing looks or visual tension. Draw in the viewer with your choice of colors. Some colors fit hand in hand while others don’t look pleasant next to each other. Try to pay attention to your colors.

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In camera culture, lighting could either be your best friend or your worst enemy.

The thing is, you have to be careful with the environment you’re in and the way your phone captures the light. Phones aren’t specialized in adjusting to all settings of light, but that solely depends on the type of phones you have.

If outside, use the Sun to your advantage. Position your subject facing the Sun, so that you get bright, lit lighting. You could also face your subject towards the sun, like in this picture, to get a silhouette effect. If indoors, position your back away from the light.

Don’t zoom with the camera while taking photos. Instead, crop it as you please while you edit. Not only does this help with the quality of the image, but if you have a larger area to crop, you could crop the image in the most appealing way. The photo on the left was much larger before cropping, but after cropping the photo looks more interesting.

A tip for any photo you’ll ever take is the rule of thirds. Like any rule, it can be broken, but this is to make your picture more interesting and well-balanced. Imagine a 3x3 grid over your photo and put your points of interest along the intersections and/or along the lines, your viewers will immediately look at them and it makes the appearance more interesting.

7

Make sure you’re focused on the subject or the background. You need to make sure your camera is focused on the exact place you want it to be. Most cameras and photo apps focus with the tap of the screen. If you’re focused on something in between, not only does it look blurry, it also prevent the viewer’s eyes from knowing where to look.

Photos by Nabeeha Ghani In Focus | 33

A Revolution in Beauty

The notion of body love and self acceptance

Created by Micah Heilbron

After years and years of self hatred, and pressure to look a certain way, people have started to rebel; self love, and the idea that all bodies are beautiful, has sprung into society.

The body positive movement has been growing popular recently, with models and designers straying from the thin, tall “norm” such as Ashley Graham, Tess Holliday, Ashley Nell Tipton, as well as many others. The idea of self love and body acceptance has spread to Austin, and has effected and changed lives, including Jeffrey Thomas, lead photographer and founder of Jeffrey Photography, Iliana Vera, otherwise known as Frostine Shake, and Elizabeth Zimmerman, owner of and photographer for Torrid Boudoir.

“I realized that women, especially women, are more likely to be self conscious about their body.

Even beautiful, gorgeous women whom everybody thinks is beautiful and gorgeous, tend to have low self esteem, for some reason. Whatever thing happened in their lives that took away their confidence, I try and take it back for them,.” Thomas said

Jeffrey Thomas started photography as a mere hobby in high school, when he took the black and white photography class his mother taught.

With his mom’s class and his dad being a practicing amateur photographer, he grew up surrounded, then inspired by the art of photography. After creating Jeffrey Photography, he then started to venture into more body positive shoots.

While, he feels it’s rather “presumptuous” to speak of a woman’s emotions and issues, he tries to base his photography around highlighting imperfections, and assuring women that they are beautiful, no matter their appearance.

Model- Sydeny Hernandez.

Taken by Micah Heilbron

“It kind of depends on the woman and how she wants to do to feel empowered, what she wants to do to feel sexy, and what she actually wants to do to make herself have a positive emotion about her body.

I only really want to capture models who are not perfect, I want to make sure that she has flaws, she has defects, like we all do. I try to make sure that my photography doesn’t hide that, but makes you feel good about it. Like these are the type of scars, love marks, on your body that make you who you are” said Thomas.

Jeffrey Thomas has not only helped his clients and models with his ideas of self love, he has also applied this to his own life.

“If you don’t like your body, you’re not going to like any aspects of your life. You’re not going to like your husband, you’re not going to like your wife, you’re not going to like your job, you’re not going to like your kids, if you can’t love yourself, you can’t love anyone else. So, always, you have to love yourself first. It’s a little corny line, but you know on the airplanes, they tell you to put on your mask first, and then put on your child’s mask, the same thing applies for love. You have to love yourself before you can love someone else.”

Thomas said In Focus | 35

On the other side of the camera, Iliana Vera, or more commonly known as Frostine Shake, began her success in the body positive community with a childhood of ballet. As a curvier woman, Vera felt very shunned from the ballet community of stick thin girls, and at 16 she quit.

“I feel like it made me rebel in a way, and rebel in a good way, and I just started to look through other avenues. Like okay, I’m not going to do this, I’m going to look into different forms of dance. I had always been going to different forms of dance classes, and when I was about 21, or 20, I started to discover the art of burlesque,” Vera said.

Frostine Shake, on instagram @frostineshake

“Frostine Shake” was born out of burlesque. She has had great success in burlesque, and has loved every minute.

“When you start as a burlesque performer, it’s a very body positive community. When it comes to dance, you have control over your choreography, you have control over your stage image, your stage name, there’s a lot of freedom that you have, that you might not have in other art forms. Or at least that’s where I feel I am the most free.” said Vera When she was in her early twenties, Vera began modeling. It started as just a small pastime, with some of her photographer friends, and eventually turning into one of her large successes.

“I didn’t know what I was doing was body positive, until someone told me. I was just in front of the camera because I loved it, and I loved the artistic aspect of it, and I loved being creative with my photographer friends, and putting my own influence on things, and it wasn’t until other people started to tell me, like, ‘Hey, you are becoming a really big influence to people, because they’re seeing you, and they’re seeing the size you are, and they’re having all of this, like, positive connection with you,’ and then I was like, ‘Wow, well that’s a good thing, I should probably continue that.’

Vera said

Taken by Jeffrey Thomas for Jeffrey Photography

A Revolution in Beauty | 36

Models- Eliza Greenberg, and Avery Sanders. Taken by Micah Heilbron

For Frostine Shake, being a burlesque dancer, model, and self love enthusiast, is only a small portion of her talent.

She has a degree in cosmetology, is a practicing makeup artist, and additionally graduated from University of North Texas with a degree in fashion, which she is extremely proud of.

“It was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever accomplished, I feel like. Before I went to fashion school, I didn’t know how to sew,I knew the creative aspect of it, I wasn’t 100% percent about the technical part of it, like the sewing and technical part of design you have to do. I was able to accomplish something that I never thought I’d be able to do, so that was, I think, one of my biggest accomplishments.” said Vera

Although Shake has greatly struggled to accept her body in the past, she is living body positive lifestyle, and working towards self love everyday.

“It’s a process, and it’s not going to be great all the time, and as long as you keep on trying to move forward, and sometimes you’re not able to be body positive, you can just be body neutral. Which is, like, you’re not totally able to get to that point where I’m like, ‘Yay, I feel great about myself.’ Just accepting it, and becoming neutral about it is important too.

That’s an accomplishment in itself, even getting halfway there,” Iliana Vera said In Focus | 37

Taken by Elizabeth Zimman for Torrid Boudoir

Another body positivity enthusiast, Elizabeth Zimmerman, founder of Torrid Boudoir, has always been interested in photography, yet she slipped out of it when she was young. Then, in an impromptu photoshoot with a close friend, Zimmerman decided photography was for her.

Zimmerman said, “I fell back in love with photography and decided to shoot anything and everything I could get my hands on. From babies to weddings, births, families, seniors, food - everything. I wanted to figure out what I really loved to shoot, then narrow it down and specialize. I finally shot my first boudoir session. It was of one of my best friends. It was very low key; no professional hair and makeup artist, no wardrobe stylist. Just me, her, some lingerie & my camera. It was absolutely incredible! Life changing, in fact. I knew immediately it's what I wanted to specialize in. I felt completely ‘at home.’”

A Revolution in Beauty | 38

“I watched my mother struggle with her weight & self confidence while I was growing up. She dieted, complained about how her body looked and eventually had surgery to change her body. It impacted me, I’m sure.

But today, as a mom of a 5 year old boy, and now a 4 month old girl, I make an effort not to do that to them. I speak positively about my body. I plan to continue to do that.

To model self love and body positivity and appreciation of my body for them.”

Taken by Elizabeth Zimmerman for Torrid Boudoir

From hiding snacks in her room as a girl, to promoting self love and empowering women, Zimmerman thanks photography, specifically boudoir, a more intamite, personal form of photography, for her positive image of herself.

“I feel like becoming a boudoir photographer has helped me gain a massive amount of self love and body positivity. I feel like each time I empower another woman ,my clients, to love themselves. It oozes into me. I feel empowered and am able to truly appreciate the gift of my work,“ Zimmerman said In the media, Zimmerman believes that almost everything promotes self hatred and an extreme ideal body. In her photography, she attempts to change that, and to show society that everyone can be as beautiful as they want to be.

“I feel that we are bombarded with tips, tricks, and advice on how to get fit, stay fit, get a beach body, etc... The majority of super models are malnourished nowadays and the models considered “plus size” are a mere size 10/12. It’s crazy. We are guilted into picking apart our bodies from the time we are very young.” Zimmerman said.

These are just three examples of the large body positivity community revolving around photography. Self love has proved to be important to many people, and is proving to be very important to a large number of people. l

Headshot of Elizabeth Zimmerman herself!

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